(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inexplosive and innoxious powdery releasing agent for keeping the surface of a sticky surface of candy or chewing gum non-adhesive, and more particularly, it pertains to such agent described above which is applicable to edible materials and chewing materials.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
In the production of articles of taste such as chewing gum, caramel, or fudge and so on from viscous edible materials, there have been used a powdery or liquid releasing agent to facilitate the removal of a molded article from a mold, and to facilitate the cutting of the article into pieces of an appropriate size, and also to keep the sticky surface of such piece non-adhesive to its wrapping sheet. Such powdery releasing agent usually includes crystalline saccharoid, starch, calcium carbonate, talc, magnesium stearate, calcium stearate and the like. As liquid releasing agents, there have been extensively used edible oils and fats, liquid edible emulsifiers and the like. However, powder of crystalline saccharoid, starch and calcium carbonate are poor in ductility (malleability) and lubricating property so that such powder requires to be spreaded in a large amount on the entire contacting surfaces of a mold and of a viscous material charged therein for facilitating the removal of the molded article off the mold, or on the entire surfaces of the thus removed article to facilitate its handling for subsequent treatments. The use of a large amount of such powdery releasing agent inevitably is accompanied by spontaneous scattering of a considerable amount thereof in the ambient air, causing adverse effects in terms of economy and sanitation for the workers engaged in the production of the aimed cakes. Especially, a powder of magnesium stearate has the temdency to be electrostatically charged and is susceptible to causing explosion when scattered in the ambient air. Moreover, powdery crystalline saccharoid is disadvantageously hygroscopic so that the surfaces of commercially produced article tend to become moist and damp when the article covered with this powder is left to stand for an extended period of time. Starch is poor in solubility in an aqueous medium at low temperature. Moreover, starch undesirably has a unique odor and this odor will act so as to deprive the desired fragrance of the article and to make the product rejectable due to the resulting modified smell.
Furthermore, in case a powder of calcium carbonate alone is used as a releasing agent, there is the tendency that the amount of this powder required for the releasing purpose becomes large owing to such reasons as described above. Especially when this powder is used for edible candy or chewing gums, the amount of this powder used to keep the article in commercially acceptable condition for subsequent treatment and storage tends to be considerably great. Thus the amount of the powder at the time the article is brought into a mouth of a person would exceed the upper limit which is defined by the official rules for food additives. In case of chewing gum, the amount of such additive powder as calcium carbonate which is allowed to be used is 2% or less by weight. For other foods, the permissible amount of calcium carbonate is designated to be 1% or less by weight.
Powder of talc, itself, has an effective releasing property due to its ductility (malleability) and lubricating property. However, talc is used ordinarily in the form of a very fine powder. Accordingly, there is the risk that a considerable amount of powder becomes afloat in the ambient air to effect the working environment. Moreover, talc powder has frequently to be used in such an amount over the upper limit defined by the rules for food additives to obtain effective releasability and storageability in acceptable conditions at the time the product is brought into the mouth of a person. According to such rules, the officially designated limit of talc powder to be used is 0.5% or less by weight as an additive to food materials. Thus, the use of an excessively large amount of talc powder will be problematical from the point of view of the food sanitation requirements.
Still further, in case crystalline saccharoid or starch is used by coating it with saturated fatty acid monoglyceride or a derivative thereof, the releasability and the lubricating property of such agent will become improved. However, such enclosed saccharoid or starch still has drawbacks in terms of stability during an elongated time period and of odor which are required for marketing the products.
As such, there has been a demand for a releasing agent having a satisfactorily long stability and having no rejectable odor when enclosed in a coating substance.
On the other hand, liquid edible fats and oils and liquid edible emulsifiers to be used as releasing agents are, of course, liquid at room temperature so that the surfaces of products coated with these releasing agents are held in the moist state, giving an appearance like an aged food material if the product is food, and also a tendency to stick to wrapping sheets such as paper, coated film or metalized paper. In some cases, the liquid releasing agents may disadvantageously tend to penetrate into the body of the products with the lapse of time, and may cause rancidity to generate rejectable odor and taste.